Manchester United easily see off FC Basel in 3-0 Champions League win

It was a fairly straightforward day at the office for Manchester United in their return to the Champions League, running out 3-0 winners over FC Basel with both of their first two goals coming from crosses off the heads of Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku. It was a thoroughly dominant performance — though one marred by a potentially problematic injury for the Red Devils.

Manchester United controlled the match basically from the first whistle on, dominating possession and getting forward regularly and with ease. Basel were doing their best to shield their goal and frustrate the English club’s star players in their efforts to score, but it was apparent early on that this match was going to be one-way traffic.

United fans were given cause for significant concern early on, though, when Paul Pogba pulled up out of a challenge with an apparent hamstring injury that forced him out of the match just moments later. Fellaini deputized for him well in the match, even scoring United’s opening goal, but fans are holding their breath to see just how bad the damage is to Pogba’s leg as he represents a vital figure to his team’s midfield and competitive hopes.

Against Basel, though, he wasn’t needed, with manager Jose Mourinho quickly adjusting his tactics to play a little wider and look to pick Basel apart with crosses, which they did with aplomb. Ashley Young sent in a peach of a cross late in the first half for Fellaini’s opener, and Daley Blind played in a cross off a second half short corner that found Lukaku’s head right in front of goal after the Belgian attacker left two defenders looking foolish in their efforts to contain him.

From there, it was all on coast for Manchester United. Basel were thoroughly beaten and utterly outclassed, and while they certainly played hard and created an occasional threat, it was clear that they had no way back into the match at Old Trafford. In fact, it was them over-committing on a counter attack that created Manchester’s third goal, with Fellaini racing up to latch onto a ball over the top before finding Marcus Rashford lurking in front of goal for an easy finish and 3-0 lead.

Apart from the injury to Pogba, this was basically a perfect match for Manchester United. It was a calm, composed, and dominant performance against a club that’s been the bogey team for many past Champions League sides, and they looked very good indeed in keeping them down. Now the challenge will be to get Pogba healthy soon and keep things clicking in his absence, but it certainly seems as though this United side is well capable of doing just that.

Manchester United: David De Gea; Ashley Young, Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind; Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba (Marouane Fellaini 19’); Juan Mata (Marcus Rashford 77’), Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial (Jesse Lingard 69’); Romelu Lukaku

Goals: Fellaini (35’), Lukaku (53’), Rashford (84’)

FC Basel: Tomas Vaclik; Manuel Akanji, Marek Suchy, Eder Balanta; Michael Lang, Taulant Xhaka, Luca Zuffi, Blas Riveros (Dimitri Oberlin 77’); Renato Steffen, Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Kevin Bua 66’), Mohamed Elyounoussi

Goals: None

Three things we learned

Romelu Lukaku can become a dominant force for Manchester United

We’ve seen the rise and maturation of Lukaku over the last several years at Everton, becoming a top-level striker who Manchester United felt was worth paying a huge transfer fee for this summer. So far this season, he’s looked to be well worth that money, and he showed it against Basel.

With Basel starting the match with a three-man back line and a deep set four-man midfield, it looked like it could be a long day at the office for Lukaku, who has been marked out of matches by similar setups in the past. On Tuesday, though, he used his impressive physique and athleticism to constantly create space for himself, giving Basel’s defenders fits trying to keep him contained and creating huge opportunities for his teammates by creating space for them to work with.

And Lukaku did well with the chances that came his way as well, scoring one goal and threatening goal on several other occasions, looking very much like the kind of complete striker Manchester need him to be this season. If he can keep up this kind of form and quality, it’s going to be hard to stop Lukaku this year.

Basel just aren’t the lovable sparkplugs they once were

Time has not been kind to Basel, who not too long ago were a constant thorn in the side of whoever they faced in the Champions League. But a transfer market that’s spiraled outside the financial means of the Swiss club has left their team depleted and unable to keep up with their continental foes, something that was very apparent in watching Manchester’s players basically run circles around Basel all day long.

They played hard and played well, but in the end Basel just aren’t near the level of a club like Manchester United. Not too long ago the gap would have been close enough for them to at least give United pause, but now with the way things have swung in Europe, it’s just not close enough to matter — and that’s a little bit saddening.

Manchester United still have a few questions to answer

While the performance was dominant, it wasn’t perfection for Manchester United. Victor Lindelof was very shaky in defense against a mediocre striker in Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Nemanja Matic made a number of poor decisions on the ball that could have cost United against a better opponent. And despite scoring a goal and helping set up another, Fellaini was definitely not a full replacement for the injured Pogba on the pitch. His poor positioning left his defense exposed too many times, and United were a bit fortunate not to get punished for it.

But these are all issues that are workable, and Mourinho is nothing if not a manager who will work to address any potential weakness in his team — something we saw today with United creating goals and other huge threats off crosses that would have gone wasted earlier this season. He’ll almost certainly find a solution of some sort, the question is in what form it will take and how long it will take.